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WEBSTER 
REMARKS 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


. 


-> 


REMARKS 


TM1         IHAK* 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
hi  I 


V 


.1 

MR.  WEBSTER, 


THE   REMOVAL  OF  THE   DEPOSITES, 


AXD  ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF 


A  NATIONAL  BANK 


DELIVERED 


In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 


JANUARY,  1834. 


WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED    BY    GALES    &    SEATON. 
1834. 


rr^rr 


> 


REMARKS. 

On  the  20th  of  January,  Mr.  Webster  presented  the  following  resolu- 
tions passed  at  a  meeting  in  Boston: 

1 .  Resolved,  As  the  sense  of  this  meeting,  that  the  business  community  of  this  city, 
vicinity,  and  Commonwealth,  are  in  a  high  state  of  prosperity,  independently  of  those 
embarrassments  in  the  money  market,  consequent  upon  the  deranged  state  of  the  finan- 
cial and  banking  operations  of  the  country. 

2.  Resolved,  That  all  the  great  branches  of  industry  throughout  the  Union  have, 
for  three  years  past,  been  in  a  highly  prosperous  condition,  till  within  the  period  of  a 
few  months. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  products  of  agriculture  have  been  unusually  abundant  the  past 
year;  that  prices  at  home  and  abroad  are  higher  than  usual,  and  likely  to  be  main- 
tained under  the  ordinary  circumstances  of  the  money  market. 

4.  Resolved,  That  the  currency,  issued  by  the  banks  of  this  State,  inasmuch  as  their 
notes  in  circulation  are  not  more  than  one-fourth  of  their  capitals,  and  the  securities 
for  their  loans  being  deemed  good,  is  in  sound  condition. 

5.  Resolved,  That  the  currency  of  the  Union  at  large  is  also  in  a  safe  and  sound 
state,  and  that  any  sudden  and  undue  contraction  of  bank  issues,  which  may  have  been 
lately  made,  has  principally  arisen,  not  from  over-issues  of  paper,  but  from  the  disturb- 
ed state  of  our  financial  and  money  concerns,  incident  to  the  altered  condition  of  the 
National  Bank. 

6.  Resolved,  That  there  is  the  usual  quantity  of  specie  in  the  country,  and  that  fo- 
reign exchanges  being  greatly  in  our  favor,  there  is  no  reason  to  apprehend  any  drain 
of  the  precious  metals;  but,  on  the  contrary,  we  may  naturally  look  for  an  influx  of 
them. 

7.  Resolved,  That  the  local  banks  now  employed  by  Government,  however  well  dis- 
posed to  accommodate  the  public,  cannot,  with  their  small  capitals,  limited  credit,  and 
scattered  resources,  and,  above  all,  their  entire  want  of  concert  and  unity  of  action, 
afford  that  aid  to  the  agricultural  classes  in  the  transmission  of  their  products,  from  the 
places  of  growth  to  the  places  of  export  and  distribution,  which  they  have  heretofore 
received  from  the  National  Bank,  but  which  is  now,  in  part,  necessarily  withdrawn 
from  them  by  that  institution,  in  consequence  of  its  change  of  position  in  regard  to  the 
Government. 

8.  Resolved,  That  the  evils  arising  from  the  scarcity  and  high  price  in  money  fall 
with  most  severity  on  the  industrious  and  middling  classes  of  society,  who  are  compel- 
led to  make  sacrifices  of  property  to  provide  for  their  daily  payments,  while  the  retired 
capitalists  are  not  only  exempt  from  such  a  loss,  but  derive  a  benefit  from  the  increased 
value  of  money. 

9.  Resolved,  That  a  continuance  of  the  existing  embarrassments  in  business,  arising 
from  the  deranged  state  of  our  money  concerns,  will  not  only  check  the  future  opera- 
tions of  the  farmer,  merchant,  manufacturer,  and  mechanic,  and  consequently  lessen 
the  employment  and  wages  of  the  laborer,  but  will  also  prove  extremely  injurious  to 
those  great  and  useful  internal  improvements,  which  must  soon  be  arrested  in  their 
progress,  if  the  pressure  on  the  money  market  is  not  relieved;  and  that  all  property 
now  in  existence  will  become  depreciated  to  a  degree  that  may  prove  utterly  ruinous 
to  a  portion  of  the  most  enterprising  and  useful  members  of  the  community. 

10.  Resolved,  That  the  amount  of  currency  necessary  to  effect  the  ordinary  payments 
in  business,  though  utterly  insignificant  compared  with  the  wealth  of  the  nation,  yet 
when  viewed  as  the  measure  of  value  of  every  species  of  property,  as  the  basis  of  all 
contracts,  and  the  medium  by  which  the  constant  interchanges  of  property  are  made, 
must  be  considered  of  immense  importance;  and  that  any  sudden  and  undue  expansion 
or  contraction  of  the  amount  required  for  the  ordinary  wants  of  the  country,  from 


2f  ■'"■         ■  <  m 


whatever  causes  it  may  proceed,  will   necessarily  tend   to  the  most  calamitous  re- 
sults. 

11.  Resolved,  That  the  existing  embarrassments  and  panic  among  all  classes  of  the 
business  community,  and  which  threaten,  if  not  soon  remedied,  the  most  serious  evils, 
may  be  attributed,  first,  to  a  spirit  of  speculation  and  over-trading — the  usual  effects 
of  long  continued  prosperity;  and  secondly,  to  the  transferring  the  collection  of  the 
national  revenue  from  the  National  Bank  to  the  State  banks,  and  thereby  paralyzing, 
in  some  degree,  the  action  of  that  institution,  by  whose  large  capital,  solid  credit,  and 
extensive  resources,  the  business  operations  of  the  whole  country  have  been  sustained 
and  promoted. 

12.  Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  a  restoration  of  the  National  Bank 
to  the  relation  in  which  it  stood  to  the  Government  prior  to  the  removal  of  the  depo- 
sites,  and  allowing  the  public  moneys  already  in  possession  of  the  local  banks  to  re- 
main there,  till  required  by  the  Government,  would,  in  a  great  measure,  relieve  the 
country  from  the  embarrassments,  arising  from  a  scarcity  and  derangement  of  curren- 
cy; and,  above  all,  allay  that  distrust,  agitation,  and  alarm,  which  is  more  difficult  to 
overcome,  and  more  dangerous  in  its  tendencies  if  not  overcome,  than  the  actual  in- 
conveniences and  losses  usually  incident  to  an  insufficient  or  deranged  currency. 

13.  Resolved,  That,  whatever  course  may  be  adopted  by  Congress,  in  relation  to 
matters  now  in  dispute  between  the  Government  and  the  National  Bank,  it  is  of  vital 
importance  to  the  great  interests  of  the  nation  that  there  should  be  a  prompt  decision, 
so  necessary  for  the  re-establishment  of  that  confidence,  throughout  the  whole  country, 
which  has  been  greatly  impaired  by  the  uncertain  and  unsettled  state  of  our  financial 
and  money  concerns. 

14.  Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  resolutions  have  no  relation  to  any  party  or  politi- 
cal purposes,  beyond  the  direct  object  manifest  on  the  face  of  them;  that  the  meeting 
comprises  persons  of  all  classes  and  professions,  entertaining  various  and  opposite  opin- 
ions upon  the  question  of  re-chartering  the  existing  National  Bank,  or  of  chartering  a 
new  one  in  lieu  of  it;  that  few  of  them  have  any  pecuniary  interest  involved  in  the  fate 
of  that  institution;  that  they  have  met  together,  on  this  occasion,  as  citizens,  having  one 
common  end  in  view,  and  with  no  other  purpose  or  desire  than  to  aid  in  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  that  credit  and  confidence  among  all  classes,  so  essential  to  our  present  safe- 
ty and  our  future  prosperity. 

15.  Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolutions  be  transmitted,  by  the  Chair- 
man of  this  meeting,  to  each  of  the  Senators  and  Representatives  of  tins  State  in  Con- 
gress, as  expressive  of  the  opinions  and  feelings  of  a  portion  of  their  constituents  upon 
the  important  matters  therein  referred  to;  and  earnestly  requesting  them  to  use  their 
best  exertions  to  effect  the  objects  which  this  meeting  has  in  view;  and  that  they  also 
be  requested  to  lay  a  copy  of  the  same  before  both  branches  of  our  National  Legis- 
lature. 

16.  Resolved,  That  a  committee,  consisting  of  Henry  Lee,  George  Bond,  Jonas  B. 
Brown,  Henry  F.  Baker,  James  T.  Austin,  George  Darracott,  and  Charles  Wells,  be 
appointed  to  take  such  other  measures,  in  furtherance  of  the  objects  of  this  meeting, 
as  they  shall  deem  proper  and  expedient. 

CHARLES  WELLS,  Chairman. 
Henry  F.  Baker,      lSeeretarie8m 


iED,    5 


Benjamin  T.  Reed 

The  resolutions  having  been  read   by  the   Secretary  of  the  Senate, 

Mr.  WEBSTER  said,  he  wished  to  bear  unequivocal  and  decided  testi- 
mony to  the  respectability,  intelligence,  and  disinterestedness  of  the  long  list 
of  gentlemen,  at  whose  instance  this  meeting  was  assembled.  The  meeting-, 
said  Mr.  W.,-  was  connected iwith  no  party  purpose  whatever.  It  had  an  ob- 
ject more  sober,  more  cogent,  more  interesting  to  the  whole  community,  than 
mere  party  questions.  The  Senate  will  perceive,  in  the  tone  of  these  reso- 
lutions, no  intent  to  exaggerate  or  inflame;  no  disposition  to  get  up  excitement 
or  to  spread  alarm.  I  hope  the  restrained  and  serious  manner,  the  modera- 
tion of  temper,  and  the  exemplary  candor,  of  these  resolutions,  in  connexion 
with  the  plain  truths  which  they  contain,  will  give  them  just  weight  with  the 
Senate.   I  assure  you,  sir,  the  members  composing  this  meeting  were  neither 


i 


5 

capitalists,  nor  speculators,  nor  alarmists.  They  are  merchants,  traders, 
mechanics,  artisans,  and  others  engaged  in  the  active  business  of  life.  They 
are  of  the  muscular  portion  of  society;  and  they  desire  to  lay  before  Congress 
an  evil,  which  they  feel  to  press  sorely  on  their  occupations,  their  earnings, 
their  labor,  and  their  property;  and  to  express  their  conscientious  conviction 
of  the  causes  of  that  evil.  If  intelligence,  if  pure  intention,  if  deep  and  wide- 
spread connexion  with  business  in  its  various  branches,  if  thorough  practical 
knowledge  and  experience,  if  inseparable  union  between  their  own  prosperity 
and  the  prosperity  of  the  whole  country,  authorize  men  to  speak,  and  give 
them  a  right  to  be  heard,  the  sentiments  of  this  meeting  ought  to  make  an 
impression.  For  one,  sir,  I  entirely  concur  in  all  their  opinions.  I  adopt 
their  first  fourteen  resolutions,  without  alteration  or  qualification,  as  setting 
forth  truly  the  present  state  of  things,  stating  truly  its  causes,  and  pointing  to 
the  true  remedy. 

Mr.  President,  now  that  I  am  speaking,  I  will  use  the  opportunity  to  say 
a  few  words  which  I  intended  to  say  in  the  course  of  the  morning,  on  the 
coming  up  of  the  resolution  which  now  lies  on  the  table;  but  which  are  as 
applicable  to  this  occasion  as  to  that. 

An  opportunity  may,  perhaps,  be  hereafter  afforded  me  of  discussing  the 
reasons  given  by  the  Secretary  for  the  very  important  measure  adopted  by 
him,  in  removing  the  deposites.  But  as  I  know  not  how  near  that  time  may 
be,  I  desire,  in  the  mean  while,  to  make  my  opinions  known,  without  reserve, 
on  the  present  state  of  the  country.  Without  intending  to  discuss  any  thing 
at  present,  I  feel  it  my  duty,  nevertheless,  to  let  my  sentiments  and  my  con- 
victions be  understood.  In  the  first  place,  then,  sir,  I  agree  with  those  who 
think  that  there  is  a  severe  pressure  in  the  money  market,  and  very  serious 
embarrassment  felt  in  all  branches  of  the  national  industry.  I  think  this  is  not 
local,  but  general — general,  at  least,  over  every  part  of  the  country  where  the 
cause  has  yet  begun  to  operate,  and  sure  to  become  not  only  general,  but 
universal,  as  the  operation  of  the  cause  shall  spread.  If  evidence  be  wanted, 
in  addition  to  all  that  is  told  us  by  those  who  know,  the  high  rate  of  interest, 
now  at  12  per  cent,  or  higher,  where  it  was  hardly  6  last  September;  the 
depression  of  all  stocks,  some  ten,  some  twenty,  some  thirty  per  cent.;  and 
the  low  prices  of  commodities,  are  proofs  abundantly  sufficient  to  show  the 
existence  of  the  pressure.  But,  sir,  labor,  that  most  extensive  of  all  interests — 
American  manual  labor — feels,  or  will  feel,  the  shock  more  sensibly,  far  more 
sensibly,  than  capital  or  property  of  any  kind.  Public  works  have  stopped, 
or  must  stop;  great  private  undertakings,  employing  many  hands,  have  ceased, 
and  others  must  cease.  A  great  lowering  of  the  rates  of  wages,  as  well  as  a 
depreciation  of  property,  is  the  inevitable  consequence  of  causes  now  in  full 
operation.  Serious  embarrassments  in  all  branches  of  business  do  certainly 
exist. 

I  am  of  opinion,  therefore,  that  there  is,  undoubtedly,  a  very  severe  pres- 
sure on  the  community,  which  Congress  ought  to  relieve  if  it  can;  and  that 
this  pressure  is  not  an  instance  of  the  ordinary  re-action,  or  the  ebbing  and 
flowing  of  commercial  affairs;  but  is  an  extraordinary  case,  produced  by  an 
extraordinary  cause. 

In  the  next  place,  sir,  I  agree  entirely  with  the  11th  Boston  resolution,  as 
to  the  causes  of  this  embarrassment.  We  were  in  a  state  of  high  prosper- 
ity, commercial  and  agricultural.  Every  branch  of  business,  was  pushed 
far,  and  the  credit  as  well  as  the  capital  of  the  country  employed  to 
near  its  utmost  limits.     In  this  state  of  things,  some  degree  of  overtrading 


doubtless  took  place,  which,  however,  if  nothing  else  had  occurred,  would 
have  been  seasonably  corrected  by  the  ordinary  and  necessary  operation  of 
things.  But,  on  this  palmy  state  of  things,  the  late  measure  of  the  Secretary 
fell,  and  has  acted  on  it  with  powerful  and  lamentable  effect. 

And  I  think,  sir,  that  such  a  cause  is  entirely  adequate  to  produce  the 
effect,  that  it  is  wholly  natural,  and  that  it  ought  to  have  been  foreseen  that 
it  would  produce  exactly  such  consequences.  Those  must  have  looked  at 
the  surface  of  things  only,  as  it  seems  to  me,  who  thought  otherwise,  and 
who  expected  that  such  an  operation  could  be  gone  through  with,  without 
producing  a  very  serious  shock. 

The  Treasury,  in  a  very  short  time,  has  withdrawn  from  the  Bank  8,000,000 
dollars,  within  a  fraction.  This  call,  of  course,  the  Bank  has  been  obliged 
to  provide  for,  and  could  not  provide  for  without  more  or  less  inconvenience 
to  the  public.  The  mere  withdrawing  of  so  large  a  sum  from  hands  actually 
holding  and  using  it,  and  the  transferring  of  it,  through  the  bank  collecting,  and 
through  another  bank  loaning  it,  if  it  can  loan  it,  into  other  hands,  is  itself  an 
operation  which,  if  conducted  suddenly,  must  produce  considerable  inconve- 
nience. And  this  is  all  that  the  Secretary  seems  to  have  anticipated.  But  this  is 
not  the  one-hundredth  part  of  the  whole  evil.  The  great  evil  arises  from  the 
new  attitude  in  which  the  Government  places  itself  towards  the  Bank.  Every 
thing  is  now  in  a  false  position.  The  Government,  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  the  State  banks,  are  all  out  of  place.  They  are  deranged  and  separated, 
and  jostling  against  each  other.  Instead  of  amity,  reliance,  and  mutual  suc- 
cor, relations  of  jealousy,  of  distrust,  of  hostility  even,  are  springing  up  be- 
tween these  parties.  All  act  on  the  defensive;  each  looks  out  for  itself;  and 
the  public  interest  is  crushed  between  the  upper  and  the  nether  millstone. 
All  this  should  have  been  foreseen.  It  is  idle  to  say  that  these  evils  might 
have  been  prevented  by  the  Bank,  if  it  had  exerted  itself  to  prevent  them. 
That  is  a  mere  matter  of  opinion;  it  may  be  true,  or  it  may  not;  but  it  was 
the  business  of  those  who  proposed  the  removal  of  the  deposites,  to  ask  them- 
selves how  it  was  probable  the  Bank  would  act,  when  they  should  attack  it, 
assail  its  credit,  and  allege  the  violation  by  it  of  its  charter;  and  thus  compel 
it  to  take  an  attitude,  at  least,  of  stern  defence.  The  community  have  cer- 
tainly a  right  to  hold  those  answerable,  who  have  unnecessarily  got  into  this 
quarrel  with  the  Bank,  and  thereby  occasioned  the  evil,  let  tie  conduct  of 
the  Bank,  in  the  course  of  the  controversy,  be  what  it  may. 

In  my  opinion,  sir,  the  great  source  of  the  evil  is  the  shock  which  the 
measure  has  given  to  confidence  in  the  commercial  world.  The  credit  of 
the  whole  system  of  the  currency  of  the  country  seems  shaken,  The  State 
banks  have  lost  credit,  and  lost  confidence.  They  have  suffered  vastly 
more  than  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  itself,  at  which  the  blow  was 
aimed. 

The  derangement  of  internal  exchanges  is  one  of  the  most  disastrous  con- 
sequences of  the  measure.  By  the  origin  of  its  charter,  by  its  unquestioned 
solidity,  by  the  fact  that  it  was  at  home  every  ichcre,  and  in  perfect  credit 
every  where,  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  accomplished  the  internal  ex- 
changes of  the  country  with  vast  facility,  and  at  an  unprecedented  cheap 
rate.  The  State  banks  can  never  perform  this  equally  well;  for  the  reason 
given  in  the  Boston  resolutions,  they  cannot  act  with  the  same  concert,  the 
same  identity  of  purpose.  Look  at  the  prices  current,  and  see  the  change 
in  the  value  of  the  notes  of  distant  banks  in  the  great  cities.  Look  at  the 
depression  of  the  stocks  of  the   State  banks,  deposite  banks  and  all.     Look 


at  what  must  happen  the  moment  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  in  its 
process  of  winding  up,  or  to  meet  any  other  crisis,  shall  cease  to  buy  do- 
mestic bills,  especially  in  the  Southern,  Southwestern,  and  Western  markets. 
Can  any  man  doubt  what  will  be  the  state  of  exchange  when  that  takes 
place?  Or  can  any  one  doubt  its  necessary  effect  on  the  price  of  produce'? 
The  Bank  has  purchased  bills  to  the  amount  of  sixty  millions  a  year,  as  ap- 
pears by  documents  heretofore  laid  before  the  Senate.  A  great  portion  of 
these,  no  doubt,  was  purchased  in  the  South  and  West,  against  shipments  of 
the  great  staples  of  those  quarters  of  the  country.  Such  is  the  course  of 
trade.  The  produce  of  the  Southwest  and  the  South  is  shipped  to  the 
North  and  the  East  for  sale;  and  those  who  ship  it  draw  bills  on  those  to 
whom  it  is  shipped;  and  these  bills  are  bought  and  discounted,  or  cashed  by 
the  Bank.  When  the  Bank  shall  cease  to  buy,  as  it  must  cease,  conse- 
quences cannot  but  be  felt,  much  severer  even  than  those  now  experienced. 
This  is  inevitable.  But,  sir,  I  go  no  further  into  particular  statements.  My 
opinion,  I  repeat,  is,  that  the  present  distress  is  immediately  occasioned, 
beyond  all  doubt,  by  the  removal  of  the  deposites;  and  that  just  such  con- 
sequences might  have  been,  and  ought  to  have  been,  foreseen  from  that 
measure,  as  we  do  now  perceive  and  feel  around  us. 

Sir,  I  do  not  believe,  nevertheless,  that  these  consequences  were  foreseen. 
With  such  foresight,  the  deposites,  I  think,  would  not  have  been  touched. 
The  measure  has  operated  more  deeply  and  more  widely  than  was  expect- 
ed. We  all  may  find  proof  of  this,  in  the  conversations  of  every  hour.  No 
one,  who  seeks  to  acquaint  himself  with  the  opinions  of  men,  in  and  out  of 
Congress,  can  doubt  that,  if  the  act  were  now  to  be  done,  it  would  receive 
very  little  encouragement  or  support. 

Being  of  opinion  that  the  removal  of  the  deposites  has  produced  the 
pressure,  as  its  immediate  effect,  not  so  much  by  withdrawing  a  large  sum 
of  money  from  circulation,  as  by  alarming  the  confidence  of  the  community, 
by  breaking  in  on  the  well-adjusted  relations  of  the  Government  and  the 
Bank,  I  agree  again  with  the  Boston  resolutions,  that  the  natural  remedy  is 
a\restoration  of  the  relation  in  which  the  Bank  has  heretofore  stood  to  Gov- 
ernment. 

I  agree,  sir,  that  this  question  ought  to  be  settled,  and  to  be  settled  soon. 
And  yet,  if  it  be  decided  that  the  present  state  of  things  shall  exist — if  it  be 
the  determination  of  Congress  to  do  nothing  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  the 
unnatural,  distrustful,  half  belligerent,  present  condition  of  the  Government 
and  the  Bank,  I  do  not  look  for  any  great  relief  to  the  community,  or  any 
early  quieting  of  the  public  agitation.  On  the  contrary,  I  expect  increased 
difficulty  and  increased  disquiet. 

The  public  moneys  are  now  out  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  There 
is  no  law  regulating  their  custody,  or  fixing  their  place.  They  are  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  be  kept  where  he  pleases,  as 
he  pleases,  and  the  places  of  their  custody  to  be  changed  as  often  as  he 
pleases. 

Now,  sir,  I  do  not  think  this  is  a  state  of  things  in  which  the  country  is 
likely  to  acquiesce. 

Mr.  President,  the  restoration  of  the  deposites  is  a  question  distinct  and 
by  itself.  It  does  not  necessarily  involve  any  other  question.  It  stands 
clear  of  all  controversy  and  all  opinion  about  re-chartering  the  Bank,  or 
•creating  any  new  Bank. 


8 

But  I  wish,  nevertheless,  sir,  to  say  a  few  words  of  a  bearing  somewhat 
beyond  that  question.  Being  of  opinion  that  the  country  is  not  likely  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  present  state  of  things,  I  have  looked  earnestly  for  the 
suggestion  of  some  prospective  measure — some  system  to  be  adopted  as  the 
future  policy  of  the  country.  Where  aro  the  public  moneys  hereafter  to 
be  kept?  In  what  currency  is  the  revenue  hereafter  to  be  collected'?  What 
is  to  take  the  place  of  the  Bank  in  our  general  system?  How  are  we 
to  preserve  a  uniform  currency,  a  uniform  measure  of  the  value  of  pro- 
perty and  the  value  of  labor,  a  uniform  medium  of  exchange  and  of  pay- 
ments'? How  are  we  to  exercise  that  salutary  control  over  the  national 
currency,  which  it  was  the  unquestionable  purpose  of  the  constitution  to 
devolve  on  Congress1? 

These,  sir,  appear  to  me  to  be  the  momentous  questions  before  us,  and 
which  we  cannot  long  keep  out  of  view.  In  these  questions  every  man  in 
the  community,  who  either  has  a  dollar,  or  expects  to  earn  one,  has  a  direct 
interest. 

Now,  sir,  I  have  heard  but  four  suggestions,  or  opinions,  as  to  what  may 
hereafter  be  expected  or  attempted. 

The  first  is,  that  things  will  remain  as  they  are — the  Bank  be  suffered  to 
expire,  no  new  Bank  created,  and  the  whole  subject  left  under  the  control  of 
the  Executive  Department. 

I  have  already  said  that  I  do  not  believe  the  country  will  ever  acquiesce 
in  this. 

The  second  suggestion  is  that  which  was  made  by  the  honorable  member 
from  Virginia,  [Mr.  Rives.]  That  honorable  member  pledges  himself  to 
bring  forward  a  proposition,  having  for  its  object  to  do  away  with  the  paper 
system  altogether,  and  to  return  to  an  entire  metallic  currency. 

I  do  not  expect,  sir,  that  the  honorable  member  will  find  much  support  in 
such  an  undertaking.  A  mere  gold  and  silver  currency,  and  the  entire 
abolition  of  paper,  is  not  suited  to  the  times.  The  idea  has  something  a 
little  too  antique,  too  Spartan  in  it;  we  might  as  well  think  of  going  to  iron 
at  once.  If  such  a  result  as  the  gentleman  hopes  for  were  even  desirable,  I 
regard  its  attainment  as  utterly  impracticable  and  hopeless.  I  lay  that 
scheme,  therefore,  out  of  my  contemplation. 

There  is,  then,  sir,  the  rechartering  of  the  present  Bank;  and,  lastly, 
there  is  the  establishment  of  a  new  Bank.  The  first  of  these  received  the 
sanction  of  the  last  Congress,  but  the  measure  was  negatived  by  the  Presi- 
dent. The  other,  the  creation  of  a  new  bank,  has  not  been  brought  forward 
in  Congress,  but  it  has  excited  attention  out  of  doors,  and  has  been  proposed 
in  some  of  the  State  Legislatures.  I  observe,  sir,  that  a  proposition  has 
been  submitted  for  consideration,  by  a  very  intelligent  gentleman  in  the 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  recommending  the  establishment  of  a  new 
bank,  with  the  following  provisions: 

"  1.  The  capital  stock  to  be  fifty  millions  of  dollars. 
"2.  The  stockholders  of  the  present  United  States  Bank  to  be  permitted 
"  to  subscribe  an  amount  equal  to  the  stock  they  now  hold. 

"  3.  The  United  States  to  be  stockholders  to  the  same  extent  they  now 
"  are,  and  to  appoint  the  same  number  of  directors. 

"4.  The  subscription  to  the  remaining  fifteen  millions  to  be  distributed 
"  to  the  several  States  in  proportion  to  federal  numbers,  or  in  some  other 
"just  and  equal  ratio;  the  instalments  payable  either  in  cash  or  in  funded 
"  stock  of  the  State,  bearing  interest  at  five  per  cent. 


"  5.  No  branch  of  the  bank  to  be  established  in  any  State,  unless  by  per- 
"  mission  of  its  Legislature. 

"  6.  The  branches  of  the  bank  established  in  the  several  States  to  be 
"  liable  to  taxation  by  those  States,  respectively,  in  the  same  manner,  and  to 
"  tjie  same  extent  only  with  their  own  banks. 

"  7.  Such  States  as  may  become  subscribers  to  the  stock,  to  have  the  right 
"  of  appointing  a  certain  number,  not  exceeding  one-third,  of  the  directors 
"  in  the  branch  of  their  own  S  tate. 

"  8.  Stock  not  subscribed  for  under  the  foregoing  provisions,  to  be  open 
"  to  subscription  by  individual  citizens." 

A  project,  not  altogether  dissimilar,  has  been  started  iii  the  Legislature  of 
Pennsylvania.  These  proceedings  show,  at  least,  a  conviction  of  the  ne- 
cessity of  some  bank  created  by  Congress.  Mr.  President,  on  this  subject 
I  have  no  doubt  whatever.  I  think  a  national  bank  proper  and  necessary. 
I  believe  it  to  be  the  only  practicable  remedy  for  the  evils  we  feel,  and  the 
only  effectual  security  against  the  greater  evils  which  we  fear.  Not,  sir,  that 
there  is  any  magic  in  the  name  of  a  bank;  nor  that  a  national  bank  works 
by  any  miracle  or  mystery.  But  looking  to  the  state  of  things  actually 
existing  around  us — looking  to  the  great  number  of  State  banks  already 
created,  not  less  than  three  hundred  and  fifty,  or  four  hundred — looking  to 
the  vast  amount  of  paper  issued  by  those  banks,  and  considering  that,  in  the 
very  nature  of  things,  this  paper  must  be  limited  and  local  in  its  credit  and 
in  its  circulation,  I  confess  I  see  nothing  but  a  well-conducted  national  in- 
stitution which  is  likely  to  afford  any  guard  against  excessive  paper  issues,  or 
which  can  furnish  a  sound  and  uniform  currency  to  every  part  of  the  United 
States.  This,  sir,  is  not  only  a  question  of  finance,  it  not  only  respects  the 
operations  of  the  Treasury,  but  it  rises  to  the  character  of  a  high  political 
question.  It  respects  the  currency,  the  actual  money,  the  measure  of  value 
of  all  property  and  all  labor  in  the  United  States.  If  we  needed  not  a 
dollar  of  money  in  the  Treasury,  it  would  still  be  our  solemn  and  bounden 
duty  to  protect  this  great  interest.  It  respects  the  exercise  of  one  of  the 
greatest  powers,  beyond  all  doubt,  conferred  on  Congress  by  the  constitution. 
And  I  hardly  know  any  thing  less  consistent  with  our  public  duty,  and  our 
high  trust,  nor  any  thing  more  likely  to  disturb  the  harmonious  relations  of 
the  States,  in  all  affairs  of  business  and  life,  than  for  Congress  to  abandon 
all  care  and  control  over  the  currency,  and  to  throw  the  whole  money 
system  of  the  country  into  the  hands  of  four-and-twenty  State  Legis- 
latures. 

I  am,  then,  sir,  for  a  bank;  and  am  fully  persuaded  that  to  that  measure 
the  country  must  come  at  last. 

The  question,  then,  is  between  the  creation  of  a  new  Bank,  and  the  re- 
chartering  of  the  present  Bank,  with  modifications.  I  have  already  refer- 
red to  the  scheme  for  a  new  bank,  proposed  to  the  Legislature  of  Massachu- 
setts, by  Mr.  White.  Between  such  a  new  bank  as  his  propositions  would 
create,  and  a  rechartering  of  the  present  Bank,  ivith  modifications,  there  is 
no  very  wide,  certainly  no  irreconcilable  difference.  We  can-iot,  however, 
create  another  Bank  before  March,  1836.  This  is  one  reason  for  preferring 
a  continuance  of  the  present.  And,  treating  the  subject  as  a  practical  ques- 
tion, and  looking  to  the  state  of  opinion,  and  to  the  probability  of  success,  in 
either  attempt,  I  incline  to  the  opinion  that  the  true  course  of  policy  is  to 
propose  a  recharter  of  the  present  Bank,  with  modifications. 

As  to  what  these  modifications  should  be,  I  would  only  now  observe,  that 


10 

while  it  may  well  be  inferred,  from  my  known  sentiments,  that  I  should  not 
myself  deem  any  alterations  in  the  charter,  beyond  those  proposed  by  the 
bill  of  1832,  highly  essential,  yet  it  is-  a  case  in  which,  I  am  aware,  nothing 
can  be  effected  for  the  good  of  the  country,  without  making  some  approaches 
to  unity  of  opinion.  I  think,  therefore,  that,  in  the  hope  of  accomplishing 
an  object  of  so  much  importance,  liberal  concessions  should  be  made.  I  lay 
out  of  the  case  all  consideration  of  any  especial  claim,  or  any  legal  right,  of 
the  present  stockholders  to  a  renewal  of  their  charter.  No  such  right  can 
be  pretended;  doubtless  none  such  is  pretended.  The  stockholders  must 
stand  like  other  individuals,  and  their  interest  regarded  so  far,  and  so  far 
only,  as  may  be  judged  for  the  public  good.  Modifications  of  the  present 
charter  should,  I  think,  be  proposed,  such  as  may  remove  all  reasonable 
grounds  of  jealousy,  in  all  quarters,  whether  in  States,  in  other  institutions, 
or  in  individuals;  such,  too,  as  may  tend  to  reconcile  the  interests  of  the 
great  city  where  the  Bank  is,  with  those  of  another  great  city;  and,  in  short, 
the  question  should  be  met  with  a  sincere  disposition  to  accomplish,  by  united 
and  iriendly  counsels,  a  measure  which  shall  allay  fears,  and  promote  confi- 
dence, at  the  same  time  that  it  secures  to  the  country  a  sound,  creditable, 
uniform  currency,  and  to  the  Government  a  safe  deposite  for  the  public  trea- 
sure, and  an  important  auxiliary  in  its  financial  operations. 

I  repeat,  then,  sir,  that  I  am  in  favor  of  renewing  the  charter  of  the  pre- 
sent Bank,  with  such  alterations  as  may  be  expected  to  meet  the  general 
sense  of  the  country. 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  to  avoid  all  unfounded  inferences,  I  wish  to  say, 
that  these  suggestions  are  to  be  regarded  as  wholly  my  own.  They  are  made 
without  the  knowledge  of  the  Bank,  and  with  no  understanding  or  concert 
with  any  of  its  friends.  I  have  not  understood,  indeed,  that  the  Bank  itself 
proposes  to  apply,  at  present,  for  a  renewal  of  its  charter.  Whether  it  does  so 
or  not,  my  suggestions  are  connected  with  no  such  or  any  other  purpose  of 
the  Bank.     I  take  up  the  subject  on  public  grounds,  purely  and  exclusively. 

And,  sir,  in  order  to  repel  all  inferences  of  another  sort,  I  wish  to  state, 
with  equal  distinctness,  that  I  do  not  undertake  to  speak  the  sentiments  of 
any  individual,  heretofore  opposed  to  the  Bank,  or  belonging  to  that  class  of 
public  men  who  have  generally  opposed  it.  I  state  my  own  opinion;  if  others 
should  concur  in  them,  it  will  be  only  because  they  approve  them,  and  will 
not  be  the  result  of  any  previous  concert  or  understanding  whatever. 

Finally,  Mr.  President,  having  stated  my  own  opinions,  I  respectfully  ask 
those  who  propose  to  continue  the  discussion  now  going  on,  relative  to  the 
deposites,  to  let  the  country  sec  their  plan  for  the  final  settlement  of  the  pre- 
sent difficulties.  If  they  are  against  the  Bank,  and  against  all  banks,  what 
do  they  propose!  That  the  country  will  not  be  satisfied  with  the  present 
state  of  things,  seems  to  me  certain.  What  state  of  things  is  to  succeed  it? 
To  these  questions,  I  desire  to  call,  earnestly,  the  attention  of  the  Senate 
and  of  the  country.  The  occasion  is  critical,  the  interests  at  stake  momen- 
tous, and,  in  my  judgment,  Congress  ought  not  to  adjourn  till  it  shall  have 
passed  some  law  suitable  to  the  exigency,  and  satisfactory  to  the  country. 


On  the  30th  day  of  January,  Mr.  Wright,  of  New  York,  presented  to  the 
Senate  sundry  resolutions,  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  New  York,  approv- 
ing the  removal  of  the  deposites,  and  disapproving  of  any  Bank  of  the 
United  States. 


\ 


11 

In  presenting  these  resolutions,  Mr.  Wright,  among  other  observations, 
expressed  his  decided  hostility  to  the  renewal  of  the  charter  of  the  present 
Bank,  or  the  creation  of  any  other;  that  he  would  oppose  this  Bank  upon  the 
ground  of  its  flagrant  violations  of  the  high  trusts  confided  to  it,  but  that  his 
objections  were  of  a  still  deeper  and  graver  character;  that  he  went  against 
this  Bank,  and  against  any  and  every  bank  to  be  incorporated  by  Congress, 
to  be  located  any  where  within  the  twenty-four  States. 

He  expressed  a  strong  opinion,  too,  that  the  existing  distress  arose  from 
the  conduct  of  the  Bank  in  curtailing  its  loans;  and  that  this  curtailment 
had  been  made  with  a  view  to  extort  a  renewal  of  its  charter  from  the  fears 
of  the  people. 

As  to  what  was  to  be  done  under  present  circumstances,  in  order  to  relieve 
the  public  pressure,  Mr.  Wright  said,  that,  speaking  for  himself  only,  he 
would  sustain  the  executive  branch  of  the  Government,  by  all  the  legal 
means  in  his  power,  in  the  effort  now  making  to  substitute  the  State  banks, 
instead  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  as  the  fiscal  agent  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

When  Mr.  Wright  had  concluded  his  remarks,  Mr.  Webster  said, 

Mr.  President:  I  cannot  consent  to  let  the  opportunity  pass,  without  a 
few  observations  upon  what  we  have  now  heard.  Sir,  the  remarks  of  the 
honorable  member  from  New  York  are  full  of  the  most  portentous  import. 
They  are  words,  not  of  cheering  or  consolation,  but  of  ill-boding  significa- 
tion; and,  as  they  spread  far  and  wide,  in  their  progress  from  the  capital 
through  the  country,  they  will  carry  with  them,  if  1  mistake  not,  gloom, 
apprehension,  and  dismay.  I  consider  the  declarations  which  the  honorable 
member  has  now  made  as  expressing  the  settled  purpose  of  the  administra- 
tion on  the  great  question  which  so  much  agitates  the  country. 

[Here  Mr.  Wright  rose,  and  said  that  he  had  given  his  opinion  as  an  indi- 
vidual, and  that  he  had  no  authority  to  speak  for  the  administration.] 

Mr.  Webster  continued.  I  perfectly  well  understand,  sir,  all  the  gentle- 
man's disclaimers  and  demurrers.  He  speaks,  to  be  sure,  in  his  own  name 
only;  but,  from  his  political  connexions,  his  station,  and  his  relations,  I  know 
full  well  that  he  has  not,  on  this  occasion,  spoken  one  word  which  has  not 
been  deliberately  weighed  and  considered,  by  others  as  well  as  himself. 

He  has  announced,  therefore,  to  the  country  two  things  clearly  and  intelli- 
gibly: 

First,  that  the  present  system  (if  system  it  is  to  be  called)  is  to  remain 
unaltered.  The  public  moneys  are  to  remain  as  they  now  are,  in  the  State 
banks,  and  the  whole  public  revenue  is  hereafter  to  be  collected  through  the 
agency  of  such  banks.  This  is  the  first  point.  The  gentleman  has  declared 
his  full  and  fixed  intention  to  support  the  administration  in  this  course,  and 
therefore  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  this  course  has  been  determined  on  by 
the  administration.  No  plan  is  to  be  laid  before  Congress;  no  system  is  to 
be  adopted  by  authority  of  law.  The  effect  of  a  law  would  be  to  place  the 
public  deposites  beyond  the  power  of  daily  change,  and  beyond  the  absolute 
control  of  the  Executive.  But  no  such  fixed  arrangement  is  to  take  place. 
The  whole  is  to  be  left  completely  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  who  may  change  the  public  moneys  from  place  to  place,  and  from 
bank  to  bank,  as  often  as  he  pleases. 

The  second  thing  now  clearly  made  known, and  of  which,  indeed,  there  have 
been  many  previous  intimations,  is,  sir,  that  a  great  effort  is  to  be  made,  or 


12 

rather  an  effort  already  made  is  to  be  vigorously  renewed  and  continued,  to  turn 
the  public  complaints  against  the  Bank  instead  of  the  Government,  and  to  per- 
suade the  people  that  all  their  sufferings  arise,  not  from  the  act  of  the  admin- 
istration in  interfering  with  the  public  deposites,  but  from  the  conduct  of  the 
Bank  since  that  was  done.  It  is  to  be  asserted  here,  and  will  be  the  topic 
of  declamation  every  where,  that,  notwithstanding  the  removal  of  the  depo- 
sites, if  the  Bank  had  not  acted  wrong,  there  would  have  been  no  pressure  or 
distress  on  the  country.  The  object,  it  is  evident,  will  now  be  to  divert 
public  attention  from  the  conduct  of  the  Secretary,  and  fix  it  on  that  of  the 
Bank.  This  is  the  second  thing  which  is  to  be  learned  from  the  speech  of 
the  member  from  New  York. 

The  honorable  member  has  said  that  new  honors  are  to  be  gained  by  the 
President,  from  the  act  which  he  is  about  to  accomplish;  that  he  is  to  bring 
back  legislation  to  its  original  limits,  and  to  establish  the  great  truth  that 
Congress  has  no  power  to  create  a  national  bank. 

I  shall  not  stop  to  argue  whether  Congress  can  charter  a  bank  in  this  little 
District,  which  shall  operate  every  wh^re  throughout  the  Union,  and  yet 
cannot  establish  one  in  any  of  the  States.  The  gentleman  seemed  to  leave 
that  point,  as  if  Congress  had  such  a  power.  But  all  must  see  that  if  Congress 
cannot  establish  a  bank  in  one  of  the  States,  with  branches  in  the  rest,  it 
would  be  mere  evasion  to  say  that  it  might  establish  a  bank  here,  with 
branches  in  the  several  States. 

Congress,  it  is  alleged,  has  not  the  constitutional  power  to  create  a  bank! 
Sir,  on  what  does  this  power  rest,  in  the  opinion  of  those  of  us  who  maintain  it? 
Simply  on  this:  that  it  is  a  power  which  is  necessary  and  proper  for  the  pur- 
pose of  carrying  other  powers  into  effect.  A  fiscal  agent — an  auxiliary  to 
the  Treasury — a  machine — a  something,  is  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  the 
Government;  and  Congress,  under  the  general  authority  conferred  upon  it, 
can  create  that  fiscal  agent — that  machine — that  something — and  call  it  a 
bank.  This  is  what  I  contend  for;  but  this  the  gentleman  denies,  and  says 
that  it  is  not  competent  to  Congress  to  create  a  fiscal  agent  for  itself,  but  that 
it  may  employ,  as  such  agents,  institutions  not  created  by  itself,  but  by  others, 
and  which  are  beyond  the  control  of  Congress.  It  is  admitted  that  the  agent 
is  necessary,  and  that  Congress  has  the  power  to  employ  it;  but  it  is  insisted, 
nevertheless,  that  Congress  cannot  create  it,  but  must  take  such  as  is  or  may 
be  already  created.  I  do  not  agree  to  the  soundness  of  this  reasoning.  Sup- 
pose there  were  no  State  banks;  in  that  case,  as  the  gentleman  admits  the 
necessity  of  a  bank,  how  can  he  hold  such  discordant  opinions  as  to  assert 
that  Congress  could  not,  in  that  case,  create  one?  The  agency  of  a  bank  is 
necessary;  and,  because  it  is  necessary,  we  may  use  it,  provided  others  will 
make  a  bank  for  us;  but,  if  they  will  not,  we  cannot  make  one  for  ourselves, 
however  necessary.     This  is  the  proposition. 

For  myself,  I  must  confess  that  I  am  too  obtuse  to  see  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  power  of  creating  a  bank  for  the  use  of  the  Government,  and  the 
power  of  taking  into  its  use  banks  already  created.  To  make  and  to  use,  or  to 
make  and  to  hire,  must  require  the  same  power,  in  this  case,  and  be  either 
both  constitutional,  or  both  equally  unconstitutional;  except  that  every  con- 
sideration of  propriety,  and  expediency,  and  convenience,  requires  that  Con- 
gress should  make  a  bank  which  will  suit  its  own  purposes,  answer  its  own 
ends,  and  be  subject  to  its  own  control,  rather  than  use  other  banks,  which 
were  not  created  for  any  such  purpose,  are  not  suited  to  it,  and  over  which 
Congress  can  exercise  no  supervision. 


13 

On  one  or  two  other  points,  sir,  I  wish  to  say  a  word.  The  gentleman  differs 
from  me  as  to  the  degree  of  pressure  on  the  country.  lie  admits  that  in 
some  parts  there  is  some  degree  of  pressure;  in  large  cities  he  supposes  there 
may  be  distress;  but  asserts  that  every  where  else  the  pressure  is  limited; 
that  every  where  it  is  greatly  exaggerated;  and  that  it  will  soon  be  over. 
This  is  mere  matter  of  opinion.  It  is  capable  of  no  precise  and  absolute 
proof  or  disproof.  The  avenues  of  knowledge  are  equally  open  to  all.  But 
I  can  truly  say  that  I  differ  from  the  gentleman  on  this  point  most  materially 
and  most  widely.  From  the  information  I  have  received  during  the  last  few 
weeks,  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  pressure  is  very  severe,  has 
become  very  general,  and  is  fast  increasing;  and  I  see  no  chance  of  its  dimi- 
nution, unless  measures  of  relief  shall  be  adopted  by  the  Government. 

But  the  gentleman  has  discovered,  or  thinks  he  has  discovered,  motives 
for  the  complaints  which  arise  on  all  sides.  It  is  all  but  an  attempt  to  bring 
the  administration  into  disfavor.  This  alone  is  the  cause  that  the  removal 
of  the  deposites  is  so  strongly  censured !  Sir,  the  gentleman  is  mistaken. 
He  does  not — at  least  I  think  he  does  not — rightly  interpret  the  signs  of  the 
times.  The  cause  of  complaint  is  much  deeper  and  stronger  than  any  mere 
desire  to  produce  political  effect.  The  gentleman  must  be  aware  that,  not- 
withstanding the  great  vote  by  which  the  New  York  resolutions  were  carried, 
and  the  support  given  by  other  proceedings  to  the  removal  of  the  deposites, 
there  are  many  as  ardent  friends  of  the  President  as  are  to  be  found  any 
where,  who  exceedingly  regret  and  deplore  the  measure.  Sir,  on  this  floor 
there  has  been  going  on,  for  many  weeks,  as  interesting  a  debate  as  has  been 
witnessed  for  twenty  years;  and  yet  I  have  not  heard,  among  all  who  have 
supported  the  administration,  a  single  Senator  say  that  he  approved  the 
removal  of  the  deposites,  or  was  glad  it  had  taken  place,  until  the  gentleman 
from  New  York  spoke.  I  saw  the  gentleman  from  Georgia  approach  that 
point,  but  he  shunned  direct  contact.  He  complained  much  of  the  Bank;  he 
insisted,  too,  on  the  power  of  removal;  but  I  did  not  hear  him  say  he  thought 
it  a  wise  act.  The  gentleman  from  Virginia,  [Mr.  Rives,]  not  now  in  his 
seat,  also  defended  the  power,  and  has  arraigned  the  Bank;  but  has  he  said 
that  he  approved  the  measure  of  removal?  I  have  not  met  with  twenty  in- 
dividuals, in  or  out  of  Congress,  who  have  expressed  an  approval  of  it, 
among  the  many  hundreds  whose  opinions  I  have  heard — not  twenty  who 
have  maintained  that  it  was  a  wise  proceeding;  but  I  have  heard  individuals 
of  ample  fortune  declare,  nevertheless,  that  since  it  was  done,  they  would 
sacrifice  all  they  possessed  rather  than  not  support  it,  although  they  wholly 
disapproved  of  it.     Such  is  the  warmth  of  party  zeal. 

Sir,  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  present  agitation  of  the  country 
springs  from  mere  party  motives.  It  is  a  great  mistake.  Every  body  is  not 
a  politician.  The  mind  of  every  man  in  the  country  is  not  occupied  with  the 
project  of  subverting  one  administration,  and  setting  up  another.  The  gen- 
tleman has  done  great  injustice  to  the  people.  I  know,  sir,  that  great  injustice 
has  been  done  to  the  memorialists  from  Boston,  whose  resolutions  I  presented 
some  days  since,  some  of  whom  are  very  ardent  friends  of  the  President, 
and  can  have  been  influenced  by  no  such  motive  as  has  been  attributed  to 
them. 

But,  Mr.  President,  I  think  I  heard  yesterday  something  from  the  gentle- 
man from  Pennsylvania,  indicative  of  an  intention  to  direct  the  hostility  of 
the  country  against  the  Bank,  and  to  ascribe  to  the  Bank,  and  the  Bank 
alone,  the  public  distress.     It  was  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  have  fore- 


14 

seen  the  consequences  of  the  removal  of  the  deposites;  and  gentlemen  have 
no  right  first  to  attack  the  Bank,  charge  it  with  great  offences,  and  thus 
attempt  to  shake  its  credit,  and  then  complain,  when  the  Bank  undertakes 
to  defend  itself,  and  to  avoid  the  great  risk  which  must  threaten  it  from  the 
hostility  of  the  Government  to  its  properly  and  character.  The  Govern- 
ment has  placed  itself  in  an  extraordinary  position,  both  to  the  Bank  and  to 
the  country,  by  the  removal  of  the  deposites:  and  also  to  the  currency  of  the 
country.  The  bills  of  the  Bank  are  lawful  currency  in  all  payments  to 
Government;  yet  we  see  the  Executive  warring  on  the  credit  of  this  national 
currency.  We  have  seen  the  institution  assailed,  which,  by  law,  was  pro- 
vided to  supply  the  revenue.  Is  not  this  a  new  course?  Does  the  recollection 
of  the  gentleman  furnish  any  such  instance'?  What  other  institution  could 
stand  against  such  hostility'?  The  Bank  of  England  could  not  stand  against 
it  a  single  hour.  The  Bank  of  France  would  perish  at  the  first  breath  of 
such  hostility.  But  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  has  sustained  its  credit 
under  every  disadvantage,  and  has  ample  means  to  sustain  it  to  the  end.  Its 
credit  is  in  no  degree  shaken,  though  its  operations  are  necessarily  curtailed. 
What  has  the  Bank  done"?  The  gentleman  from  New  York  and  the  gentle- 
man from  Pennsylvania  have  alleged  that  it  is  not  because  of  the  removal  of 
the  deposites  that  there  is  pressure  in  the  country,  but  because  of  the  conduct 
of  the  Bank.  The  latter  gentleman,  especially,  alleges  that  the  Bank  began 
to  curtail  its  discounts  before  the  removal  of  the  deposites,  and  at  a  time 
when  it  was  only  expected,  that  they  would  be  removed.  Indeed !  and  did 
not  the  Bank,  by  taking  this  course,  prove  that  it  foresaw  correctly  what  was 
to  take  place?  and,  because  it  adopted  a  course  of  preparation,  in  order  to 
break  the  blow  which  was  about  to  fall  upon  it,  this  also  is  to  be  added  to 
the  grave  catalogue  of  its  offences.  The  Bank,  it  seems,  has  curtailed  to 
the  amount  of  nine  millions.  Has  she,  indeed?  And  is  not  that  exactly 
the  amount  of  deposites  which  the  Government  has  withdrawn?  The  Bank, 
then,  has  curtailed  precisely  so  much  as  the  Government  has  drawn  away 
from  it.  No  other  Bank  in  the  world  could  have  gone  on  with  so  small  a 
curtailment.  While  public  confidence  was  diminishing  all  around  the'Bank, 
it  only  curtailed  just  as  much  as  it  lost  by  the  act  of  the  Government.  The 
Bank  would  be  justified,  even  without  the  withdrawal  of  the  deposites,  in  cur- 
tailing its  discounts  gradually,  and  continuing  to  do  so  to  the  end  of  its 
charter,  considering  the  hostility  manifested  to  its  further  continuance.  The 
Government  has  refused  to  recharter  it.  Its  term  of  existence  is  approaching; 
one  of  the  duties  which  it  has  to  perform  is  to  make  its  collections;  and  the 
process  of  collection,  since  it  must  be  slow,  ought  to  be  commenced  in  season. 
It  is,  therefore,  its  duty  to  begin  its  curtailments,  so  as  .that  the  process  may 
be  gradual. 

I  hope  thai  I  have  not  been  misunderstood  in  my  remarks  the  other  morn- 
ing. The  gentleman  from  New  York  has  represented  me  as  saying  that  it 
is  not  the  removal  of  the  deposites  which  has  caused  the  public  distress. 
What  I  said  was,  that,  if  the  Government  had  required  twice  nine  millions 
for  its  service,  the  withdrawal  of  that  amount  from  the  Bank,  without  any 
interruption  of  the  good  understanding  between  the  Government  and  the 
Bank,  would  not  have  caused  this  pressure  and  distrust.  Every  thing  turns 
on  the  circumstances  under  which  the  withdrawal  is  made.  If  public  confi- 
dence is  not  shaken,  all  is  well;  but,  if  it  is,  all — all  is  difficulty  and  distress. 
And*  this  confidence  is  shaken. 

It  has  been  said  by  the  gentleman  from  New  York,  that  Government  has 


15 

no  design  agaiust  the  Bank;  that  it  only  desires  to  withdraw  the  public,  depo- 
sites.  Yet,  in  the  very  paper  submitted  to  Congress  by  the  Executive  De- 
partment, the  Bank  is  arraigned  as  unconstitutional  in  its  very  origin,  and  also 
as  having  broken  its  charter,  and  violated  its  obligations — and  its  very  existence 
is  said  to  be  dangerous  to  the  country !  Is  not  all  this  calculated  to  injure  the 
character  of  the  Bank  and  to  shake  confidence]  The  Bank  has  its  foreign  con- 
nexions, and  is  much  engaged  in  the  business  of  foreign  exchanges;  and  what 
will  be  thought  at  Paris  and  London,  when  the  community  there  shall  see  all 
these  charges  made  by  the  Government  against  a  Bank,  in  which  they  have 
always  reposed  the  highest  trust]  Does  not  this  injure  its  reputation]  Does  it 
not  compel  it  to  take  a  defensive  attitude]  The  gentleman  from  New  York 
spoke  of  the  power  in  the  country  to  put  down  the  Bank,  and  of  doing  as 
our  fathers  did  in  the  time  of  the  revolution;  and  has  called  on  the  people  to 
rise  and  put  down  this  money  power,  as  our  ancestors  put  down  the  oppres- 
sive rule  of  Great  Britain!  All  this  is  well  calculated  to  produce  the  effect 
which  is  intended;  and  all  this,  too,  helps  further  to  shake  confidence — it  all 
injures  tbe  Bank — it  all  compels  it  to  curtail  more  and  more. 

Sir,  I  venture  to  predict  that  the  longer  gentlemen  pursue  the  experiment 
which  they  have  devised,  of  collecting  the  public  revenue  by  State  banks,  the 
more  perfectly  will  they  be  satisfied  that  it  cannot  succeed.  The  gentleman 
has  suffered  himself  to  be  led  away  by  false  analogies.  He  says,  that  when 
the  present  Bank  expires,  there  will  be  the  same  laws  as  existed  when  the 
old  Bank  expired.  Now,  would  it  not  be  the  inference  of  every  wise  man, 
that  there  will  also  be  the  same  inconveniences  as  were  then  felt]  It  would  be 
useful  to  remember  the  state  of  things  which  existed  when  the  first  Bank  was 
created,  in  1791;  and  that  a  high  degree  of  convenience,  which  amounted  to 
political  necessity,  compelled  Congress  thus  early  to  create  a  national  bank. 
Its  charter  expired  in  1811,  and  the  war  came  on  the  next  year.  The  Str.te 
banks  immediately  stopped  payment;  and,  before  the  war  had  continued 
twelve  months,  there  was  a  proposition  for  another  United  States  Bank;  and 
this  proposal  was  renewed  from  year  to  year,  and  from  session  to  session. 
Who  supported  this  proposition]  The  very  individuals  who  had  opposed  the 
former  Bank,  and  who  had  now  become  convinced  of  the  indispensable  neces- 
sity of  such  an  institution.  It  has  been  verified,  by  experience,  that  the  Bank  is 
as  necessary  in  time  of  peace  as  in  time  of  war;  and  perhaps  more  necessary, 
for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  commercial  operations  of  the  country,  and 
collecting  the  revenue,  and  sustaining  the  currency.  It  has  been  alleged,  that 
we  are  to  be  left  in  the  same  condition  as  when  the  old  Bank  expired,  and, 
of  course,  we  are  to  be  subjected  to  the  same  inconveniences.  Sir,  why  should 
we  thus  suffer  all  experience  to  be  lost  upon  us]  For  the  convenience  of 
the  Government  and  of  the  country  there  must  be  some  bank,  (at  least  I  think 
so;)  and  I  should  wish  to  hear  the  views  of  the  administration  as  to  this  point. 
The  notes  and  bills  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  have  heretofore  been 
circulated  every  where — they  meet  the  wants  of  every  one — they  have  furnished 
a  safe  and  most  convenient  currency.  It  is  impossible  for  Congress  to  enact 
a  certain  value  on  the  paper  of  the  State  banks.  They  may  say  that  these  banks 
are  entitled  to  credit;  but  they  cannot  legislate  them  into  the  good  opinion  and 
faith  of  the  public.  Credit  is  a  thing  which  must  take  its  own  course.  It 
can  never  happen  that  the  New  York  notes  will  be  at  par  value  in  Louisiana, 
or  that  the  notes  of  the  Louisiana  banks  will  be  at  par  value  in  New  York. 
In  the  notes  of  the  United  States  Bank  we  have  a  currency  of  equal  value 
every  where;  and  I  say  that  there  is  not  to  be  found,  in  the  whole  world, 


16 

another  institution  whose  notes  spread  so  far  and  wide,  with  perfect  credit 
in  all  places.  There  is  no  instance  of  a  bank,  whose  paper  is  spread  over  so 
vast  a  surface  of  country,  and  is  every  where  of  such  equal  value.  How  can 
it  be,  that  a  number  of  State  banks,  scattered  over  two  thousand  miles  of 
country,  subject  to  twenty-four  different  State  Legislatures  and  State  tribu- 
nals, without  the  possibility  of  any  general  concert  of  action,  can  supply  the 
place  of  one  general  bank?  It  cannot  be.  I  see,  sir,  in  the  doctrines  which  have 
been  advanced  to-day,  only  new  distress  and  disaster,  new  insecurity,  and 
more  danger  to  property  than  the  country  has  experienced  for  many  years; 
because  it  is  in  vain  to  attempt  to  uphold  the  occupations  of  industry,  unless 
property  is  made  secure;  or  ftf  the  value  of  labor,  unless  its  recompense  is 
safe.  But  an  opportunity  will  occur  for  resuming  this  subject  hereafter.  I 
forbear  from  it  for  the  present. 

A  word  or  two  on  one  other  point.  It  was  said  by  me,  on  a  former  day, 
that  this  immediate  question  of  the  deposites  does  not  necessarily  draw  after 
it  the  question  of  rechartering  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  It  leaves  that 
question  for  future  adjustment.  But  the  present  question  involves  high  poli- 
tical considerations,  which  I  am  not  now  about  to  discuss.  If  the  question 
of  the  removal  of  the  deposites  be  not  now  taken  into  view,  gentlemen  will 
be  bound  to  vote  on  the  resolutions  of  the  Senator  from  Kentucky,  as  to  the 
power  which  has  been  claimed  and  exercised.  The  question,  then,  is  not  as 
to  the  renewing  of  the  charter  of  the  Bank.  But  I  repeat,  that,  however 
gentlemen  may  flatter  themselves,  if  it  be  not  settled  that  the  deposites  are  to 
be  restored,  nothing  will  be  settled;  negative  resolutions  will  not  tranquillize 
the  country  and  give  it  repose.  The  question  is  before  the  country — all  agree 
that  it  must  be  settled  by  that  country.  I  very  much  regret  that  topics  are 
mixed  up  with  the  question,  which  may  prevent  it  from  being  submitted  to  the 
calm  judgment  of  the  people.  Yet,  I  have  not  lost  faith  in  public  sentiment. 
Events  are  occurring,  daily,  which  will  make  the  people  think  for  themselves. 
The  industrious,  the  enterprising,  will  see  the  danger  which  surrounds  them, 
and  will  awake.  If  the  majority  of  the  people  shall  then  say  there  is  no  ne- 
cessity for  a  continuance  of  this  sound  and  universal  currency,  I  will  acqui- 
esce in  their  judgment,  because  I  can  do  no  otherwise  than  to  acquiesce.  If 
the  gentleman  from  New  York  is  right  in  his  reading  of  the  prognostics,  and 
public  opinion  shall  settle  down  in  the  way  which  he  desires;  and  if  it  be  de- 
termined here  that  the  public  money  is  to  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Exe- 
cutive, with  absolute  power  over  the  whole  subject  of  its  custody  and  guardi- 
anship; and  that  the  general  currency  is  to  be  left  to  the  control  of  banks 
created  by  twenty-four  States;  then,  I  say,  that  in  my  judgment,  one  strong 
bond  of  our  social  and  political  Union  is  severed,  and  one  great  pillar  of  our 
prosperity  is  broken  and  prostrate. 

Mr.  T  ALLM  ADGE,  of  New  York,  spoke  in  reply  to  Mr.  Wkbster,  and  de- 
nied the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  create  a  bank,  although  he  main- 
tained the  power  of  the  Secretary  to  make  use  of  the  State  banks. 

The  subject  being  resumed  the  next  day,  January  31 — 

Mr.  WEBSTER  said:  It  is  not  to  be  denied,  sir,  that  the  financial  affairs 
of  the  country  have  come,  at  last,  to  such  a  state,  that  every  man  can  see 
plainly  the  question  which  is  presented  for  the  decision  of  Congress.  We 
have,  unquestionably,  before  us,  now,  the  views  of  the  Executive,  as  to  the 
nature  and  extent  of  the  evils  alleged  to  exist;  and  its  notions,  also,  as  to  the 


17 

proper  remedy  for  such  evils.  That  remedy  is  short.  It  is,  simply,  the  sys- 
tem of  administration  already  adopted  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and 
which  is  nothing  but  this — that  whenever  he  shall  think,  proper  to  remove  the 
public  moneys  from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  place  them  wherever 
else  he  pleases,  this  act  shall  stand  as  the  settled  policy  and  system  of  the 
country;  and  this  system  shall  rest  upon  the  authority  of  the  Executive  alone. 
This  is  now  to  be  our  future  policy,  as  I  understand  the  grave  significant 
import  of  the  remarks  made  yesterday  by  the  gentlemen  from  New  York, 
and  as  I  perceive  they  are  generally  understood,  and  as  they  are  evidently  un- 
derstood by  the  gentleman  from  Mississippi,  [Mr.  Poindexter,]  who  has  al- 
luded to  them  on  presenting  his  resolutions  this  morning.  I  wish,  sir,  to  take 
this,  the  earliest  opportunity,  of  stating  my  opinions  upon  this  subject;  and 
that  opinion  is,  that  the  remedy  proposed  by  the  administration  for  the  evils 
under  which  the  country  is  at  this  time  suffering,  cannot  bring  relief,  will  not 
give  satisfaction,  and  cannot  be  acquiesced  in.  I  think  the  country,  on  the 
other  hand,  will  show  much  dissatisfaction;  and  that,  from  no  motive  of  hos- 
tility to  the  Government,  from  no  disposition  to  make  the  currency  of  the 
country  turn  upon  political  events,  or  to  make  political  events  turn  upon  the 
question  of  the  currency;  but  simply  because,  in  my  judgment,  the  system  is 
radically  defective — totally  insufficient — carrying  with  it  little  confidence  of 
the  public,  and  none  at  all  more  than  it  acquires  merely  by  the  influence  of 
the  name  which  recommends  it. 

I  do  not  intend  now,  Mr.  President,  to  go  into  a  regular  and  formal  argu- 
ment to  prove  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  establish  a  national 
bank.  That  question  has  been  argued  a  hundred  times,  and  always  settled 
the  same  way.  The  whole  history  of  the  country,  for  almost  forty  years, 
proves  that  such  a  power  has  been  believed  to  exist.  All  previous  Con- 
gresses, or  nearly  all,  have  admitted  or  sanctioned  it;  the  judicial  tribunals, 
Federal  and  State,  have  sanctioned  it.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  has  declared  the  constitutionality  of  the  present  Bank,  after  the  most 
solemn  argument,  without  a  dissenting  voice  on  the  bench. 

Every  successive  President  has,  tacitly  or  expressedly,  admitted  the  power. 
The  present  President  has  done  this;  he  has  informed  Congress  that  he  could 
furnish  the  plan  of  a  bank  which  should  conform  to  the  constitution.  In 
objecting  to  the  recharter  of  the  present  Bank,  he  objected  for  particular 
reasons;  and  he  has  said  that  a  Bank  of  the  United  States  would  be  usefuL 
and  convenient  for  the  people. 

All  this  authority,  I  think,  ought  to  settle  the  question.  Both  the  members" 
from  New  York,  however,  are  still  unsatisfied;  they  both  deny  the  power  of 
Congress  to  establish  a  bank.  Now,  sir,  I  shall  not  argue  the  question  at 
this  time;  but  I  will  repeat  what  I  said  yesterday.  It  does  appear  to  mer 
that  the  late  measures  of  the  administration  prove,  incontestably,  and  by  a 
very  short  course  of  reasoning,  the  constitutionality  of  a  bank.  What  I  said 
yesterday,  and  what  I  say  to  day,  is,  that  since  the  Secretary,  and  all  who 
agree  with  the  Secretary,  admit  the  necessity  of  the  agency  of  some  bank  to 
carry  on  the  affairs  of  Government,  I  was  at  a  loss  to  see  where  they  could 
find  power  to  use  a  State  bank,  and  yet  find  no  power  to  create  a  Bank  of 
the  United  States.  The  gentleman's  perception  may  be  sharp  enough  to  see 
a  distinction  between  these  two  cases,  but  it  is  too  minute  for  my  grasp.  It 
is  not  said,  in  terms,  in  the  constitution,  that  Congress  may  create  a  bank; 
nor  is  it  said,  in  terms,  that  Congress  may  use  a  bank  created  by  a  State. 
How,  then,  does  it  get  authority  to  do  either?  No  otherwise,  certainly,  than 
2 


18 

that  it  possesses  power  to  pass  all  laws  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  its 
enumerated  powers  into  effect.  If  a  law  were  now  before  us  for  confirming 
the  arrangement  of  the  Secretary,  and  adopting  twenty  State  banks  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  as  fiscal  agents  of  the  Government,  where  would 
the  honorable  gentleman  find  authority  for  passing  such  a  law?  No  where 
but  in  that  clause  of  the  constitution  to  which  I  have  referred;  that  is  to  say, 
the  clause  which  authorizes  Congress  to  pass  all  laws  necessary  and  proper 
for  carrying  its  granted  powers  into  elfect.  If  such  a  law  were  before  us,  and 
the  honorable  member  proposed  to  vote  for  it,  he  would  be  obliged  to  prove 
that  the  agency  of  a  bank,  is  a  thing  both  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying 
on  the  Government.  If  he  could  not  make  this  out,  the  law  would  be  un- 
constitutional. We  see  the  Secretary  admits  the  necessity  of  this  bank  agency; 
the  gentleman  himself  admits  it — nay,  contends  for  it.  A  bank  agency  is  his 
main  reliance.  All  the  hopes  expressed  by  himself  or  his  colleague,  of  being 
able  to  get  on  with  the  present  state  of  things,  rest  on  the  expected  efficiency 
of  a  bank  agency. 

A  bank,  then,  or  some  bank,  being  admitted  to  be  both  necessary  and 
proper  for  carrying  on  the  Government,  and  the  Secretary  proposing,  on  that 
very  ground,  and  no  other,  to  employ  the  State  banks,  how  does  he  make 
out  a  distinction  between  passing  a  law  for  using  a  necessary  agent,  already 
created,  and  a  law  for  creating  a  similar  agent,  to  be  used,  when  created,  for 
the  same  purpose?  If  there  be  any  distinction,  as  it  seems  to  me,  it  is  rather 
in  favor  of  creating  a  bank  by  the  authority  of  Congress,  with  such  powers, 
and  no  others,  as  the  service  expected  from  it  requires,  answerable  to  Con- 
gress, and  always  under  the  control  of  Congress,  than  of  employing  as  our 
agents  banks  created  by  other  Governments,  for  other  purposes,  and  over 
which  this  Government  has  no  control. 

But,  sir,  whichever  power  is  exercised,  both  spring  from  the  same  source; 
and  the  power  to  establish  a  bank,  on  the  ground  that  its  agency  is  necessary 
and  proper  for  the  ends  and  uses  of  Government,  is  at  least  as  plainly  con- 
stitutional as  the  power  to  adopt  banks  for  the  same  uses  and  objects,  which 
are  already  made  by  other  Governments.  Indeed,  the  legal  act  is,  in  both 
cases,  the  same.  When  Congress  makes  a  bank,  it  creates  an  agency;  when 
it  adopts  a  State  bank,  it  creates  an  agency.  If  there  be  power  for  one, 
therefore,  there  is  power  for  the  other. 

The  honorable  member,  sir,  quoted  me  as  having  said  that  I  regarded  the 
Bank  as  one  of  the  greatest  bonds  of  the  union  of  the  States.  That  is  not 
exactly  what  I  said.  What  I  did  say  was,  that  the  constitutional  power 
vested  in  Congress  over  the  legal  currency  of  the  country  was  one  of  its 
very  highest  powers,  and  that  the  exercise  of  this  high  power  was  ono  of  the 
strongest  bonds  of  the  union  of  the  States.  And  this  I  say  still.  Sir,  the 
gentleman  did  not  go  to  the  constitution.  He  did  not  tell  us  how  he  under- 
stands it,  or  how  he  proposes  to  execute  the  great  trust  which  it  devolves  on 
Congress,  in  respect  to  the  circulating  medium.  I  can  only  say,  sir,  how  I 
understand  it. 

The  constitution  declares  that  Congress  shall  have  power  "  to  coin  money, 
regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  coin."  And  it  also  declares  that 
"  no  State  shall  coin  money,  emit  bills  of  credit,  or  make  any  thing  but  gold 
and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts."  Congress,  then,  and  Con- 
gress only,  can  coin  money,  and  regulate  the  value  thereof.  Now,  sir,  I  take 
it  to  be  a  truth,  which  has  grown  into  an  admitted  maxim  with  all  the  best 
writers,  and  the  best  informed  public  men,  that  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  pro- 


19 

tect  the  community  against  the  evils  of  a  debased  coin,  are  bound  also  to 
protect  it  against  the  still  greater  evils  of  excessive  issues  of  paper. 

If  the  public  require  protection,  says  Mr.  Ricardo,  against  bad  money, 
which  might  be  imposed  on  them  by  an  undue  mixture  of  alloy,  how  much 
more  necessary  is  such  protection,  when  paper  money  forms  almost  the  whole 
of  the  circulating  medium  of  the  country. 

It  is  not  to  be  doubted,  sir,  that  the  constitution  intended  that  Congress 
should  exercise  a  regulating  power — a  power  both  necessary  and  salutary, 
over  that  which  should  constitute  the  actual  money  of  the  country,  whether 
that  money  were  coin,  or  the  representative  of  coin.  So  it  has  always  been 
considered — so  Mr.  Madison  considered  it,  as  may  be  seen  in  his  message, 
December,  1816.     He  there  says: 

"  Upon  this  general  view  of  the  subject,  it  is  obvious  that  there  is  only 
M  wanting  to  the  fiscal  prosperity  of  the  Government  the  restoration  of  a 
"  uniform  medium  of  exchange.  The  resources  and  the  faith  of  the  nation, 
"  displayed  in  the  system  which  Congress  has  established,  insure  respect  and 
"*'  confidence  both  at  home  and  abroad.  The  local  accumulations  of  the  re- 
"  venue  have  already  enabled  the  Treasury  to  meet  the  public  engagements 
"  in  the  local  currency  of  most  of  the  States;  and  it  is  expected  that  the  same 
"  cause  will  produce  the  same  effect  throughout  the  Union.  But  for  the 
"  interests  of  the  community  at  large,  as  well  as  for  the  purposes  of  the  Trea- 
"  sury,  it  is  essential  that  the  nation  should  possess  a  currency  of  equal  value, 
"  credit,  and  use,  wherever  it  may  circulate.  The  constitution  has  intrusted 
"  Congress  exclusively  with  the  power  of  creating  and  regulating  a  currency 
"  of  that  description;  and  the  measures  which  were  taken  during  the  last 
"  session,  in  execution  of  the  power,  give  every  promise  of  success.  The  Bank 
"  of  the  United  States  has  been  organized  under  auspices  the  most  favorable, 
"  and  cannot  fail  to  be  an  important  auxiliary  to  those  measures.'''' 

The  State  banks  put  forth  paper  as  representing  coin.  As  such  represen- 
tative, it  obtains  circulation — it  becomes  the  money  of  the  country — but  its 
amount  depends  on  the  will  of  four  hundred  different  State  banks,  each 
acting  on  its  own  discretion;  and  in  the  absence  of  every  thing  preventive 
or  corrective,  on  the  part  of  the  United.  States,  what  security  is  there  against 
excessive  issues,  and,  consequently,  against  depreciation?  The  public  feels 
that  there  is  no  security  against  these  evils — it  has  learned  this  from  expe- 
rience; and  this  very  feeling,  this  distrust  of  the  paper  of  State  banks,  is 
the  very  evil  which  they  themselves  have  to  encounter;  and  it  is  a  very 
serious  evil.  They  know  that  confidence  in  them  is  far  greater  when 
there  exists  a  power  elsewhere  to  prevent  excess  and  depreciation.  Such  a 
power,  therefore,  is  friendly  to  their  best  interests.  It  gives  confidence  and 
credit  to  them,  one  and  all.  Hence  a  vast  majority  of  the  State  banks — 
nearly  all,  perhaps,  except  those  who  expect  to  be  objects  of  particular  favor — 
desire  the  continuance  of  a  national  bank,  as  an  institution  highly  useful  to 
themselves. 

The  mode  in  which  the  operations  of  a  national  institution  afford  security 
against  excessive  issues  by  local  banks  is  not  violent,  coercive,  or  injurious. 
On  the  contrary,  it  is  gentle,  salutary,  and  friendly.  The  result  is  brought 
about  by  the  natural  and  easy  operation  of  things.  The  money  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  having  a  more  wide-spread  credit  and  character,  is 
constantly  wanted  for  purposes  of  remittance.  It  is  purchased,  therefore, 
for  this  purpose,  and  paid  for  in  the  bills  of  local  banks;  and  it  may  be  pur- 
chased, of  course,  at  par,  or  near  it,  if  these  local  bills  are  offered  in  the 


20 

neighborhood  of  their  own  banks,  and  these  banks  are  in  good  credit.  These 
local  bills  then  return  to  the  bank  that  issued  then).  The  result  is,  that 
while  the  local  bills  will  or  may  supply,  in  great  part,  the  local  circulation, 
(not  being  capable,  for  want  of  more  extended  credit,  of  being  remitted  to 
great  distances,)  their  amount  is  thus  limited  to  the  purposes  of  local  circula- 
tion; and  any  considerable  excess,  beyond  this,  finds  in  due  season  a  salutary 
corrective. 

This  is  one  of  the  known  benefits  of  the  Bank.  Every  man  of  business 
understands  it,  and  the  whole  country  has  realized  the  security  which  this 
course  of  things  has  produced. 

But,  sir,  as  to  the  question  of  the  deposites,  the  honorable  gentleman 
thinks  he  sees,  at  last,  the  curtain  raised — he  sees  the  object  of  the  whole 
debate.  He  insists  that  the  question  of  the  restoration  of  the  deposites,  and 
the  question  of  rechartering  the  Bank,  are  the  same  question.  It  strikes  me, 
sir,  as  being  strange,  that  the  gentleman  did  not  draw  an  exactly  opposite 
inference  from  his  own  premises.  He  says  he  sees  the  Northern  friends  of 
the  Bank,  and  the  Southern  opposers  of  the  Bank,  agreeing  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  deposites.  This  is  true;  and  does  not  this  prove  that  the  question 
is  a  separate  one?  On  the  one  question,  the  North  and  the  South  are 
together;  on  the  other,  they  separate:  either  their  apprehensions  are  obtuse, 
or  else  this  very  statement  shows  the  question  to  be  distinct. 

Sir,  since  the  gentleman  has  referred  to  the  North  and  the  South,  I  will 
venture  to  ask  him  if  he  sees  nothing  important  in  the  aspect  which  the 
South  presents'?  On  this  question  of  the  deposites,  does  he  not  behold 
almost  an  entire  unanimity  in  the  South'?  How  many,  from  the  Potomac  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  defend  the  removal'?  For  myself,  I  declare  that  I  have 
not  heard  a  member  of  Congress  from  beyond  the  Potomac  say,  either  in  or 
out  of  his  seat,  that  he  approved  the  measure.  Can  the  gentleman  see 
nothing  in  this  but  proof  that  the  deposite  question  and  the  question  of  re- 
charter  are  the  same?  Sir,  gentlemen  must  judge  for  themselves;  but  it 
appears  plain  enough  to  me,  that  the  President  has  lost  more  friends  at  the 
South  by  this  interference  with  the  public  deposites,  than  by  any  or  all  other 
measures. 

I  must  be  allowed  now,  sir,  to  advert  to  a  remark,  in  the  speech  of  the 
honorable  member  from  New  York,  on  the  left  of  the  chair,  [Mr.  Wright,] 
as  I  find  it  in  a  morning  paper.     It  is  this: 

"  Be  assured,  sir,  whatever  nice  distinctions  may  be  drawn  here  as  to  the 
"  show  of  influence  which  expressions  of  the  popular  will  upon  such  a 
"  subject  are  entitled  to  from  us,  it  is  possible  for  that  will  to  assume  a  con- 
"  stitutional  shape,  which  the  Senate  cannot  misunderstand,  and,  understand- 
"  ing,  will  not  unwisely  resist." 

[Mr.  WRIGHT  said,  it  should  have  been  share  of  influence.] 

Mr.  WEBSTER  continued.  That  does  not  alter  the  sense.  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, I  wish  to  keep  the  avenues  of  public  opinion,  from  the  whole  country 
to  the  Capitol,  all  open,  broad  and  wide.  I  desire  always  to  know  the  state 
of  that  opinion,  on  great  and  important  subjects.  From  me,  that  opinion 
always  has  received,  and  always  will  receive,  the  most  respectful  attention 
and  consideration.  And  whether  it  be  expressed  by  State  Legislatures, 
or  by  public  meetings,  or  be  collected  from  individual  expressions,  in  what- 
ever form  it  comes,  it  is  always  welcome.  But,  sir,  the  legislation  for  the 
United  States  must  be  conducted  here.  The  law  of  Congress  must  be 
the  will  of  Congress,  and  the  proceedings  of  Congress  its  own  proceedings. 


\ 


21 

I  hope  nothing  intimidating  was  intondcd  by  this   expression.   [Mr.  Wright 
intimated  it  was  not.]     Then,  sir,  I  forbear  further  remark. 

Sir,  there  is  one  other  subject  on  which  I  wish  to  raise  my  voice.  There 
is  a  topic,  which  I  perceive  is  become  the  general  war  cry  of  party,  on  which 
I  take  the  liberty  to  warn  the  country  against  delusion.  Sir,  the  cry  is  to  be 
raised,  that  this  is  a  question  between  the  poor  and  the  rich.  I  know,  sir, 
it  has  been  proclaimed  that  one  thing  was  certain — that  there  was  always  a 
hatred  from  the  poor  to  the  rich;  and  that  this  hatred  would  support  the  late 
measures,  and  the  putting  down  of  the  Bank.  Sir,  I  will  not  be  silent  at  the 
threatening  of  such  a  detestable  fraud  on  public  opinion.  If  but  one  man,  or 
ten  men,  in  the  nation  will  hear  my  voice,  I  would  still  warn  them  against  this 
attempted  imposition. 

Mr.  President,  this  is  an  eventful  moment.  On  the  great  questions  which 
occupy  us,  we  all  look  for  some  decisive  movement  of  public  opinion.  As  I 
wish  that  movement  to  be  free,  intelligent,  and  unbiassed — the  true  mani- 
festation of  the  public  will — I  desire  to  prepare  the  country  for  another 
assault,  which  I  perceive  is  about  to  be  made  on  popular  prejudice — another 
attempt  to  obscure  all  distinct  views  of  the  public  good — to  overwhelm  all 
patriotism,  and  all  enlightened  self-interest,  by  loud  cries  against  false 
danger,  and  by  exciting  the  passions  of  one  class  against  another.  I  am  not 
mistaken  in  the  omen — I  see  the  magazine  whence  the  weapons  of  this 
warfare  are  to  be  drawn.  I  already  hear  the  din  of  the  hammering  of  arms, 
preparatory  to  the  combat.  They  may  be  such  arms,  perhaps,  as  reason, 
and  justice,  and  honest  patriotism  cannot  resist.  Every  effort  at  resistance, 
it  is  possible,  may  be  feeble  and  powerless;  but,  for  one,  I  shall  make  an 
effort — an  effort  to  be  begun  now,  and  to  be  carried  on  and  continued,  with 
untiring  zeal,  till  the  end  of  the  contest  comes. 

Sir,  I  see  in  those  vehicles  which  carry  to  the  people  sentiments  from 
high  places,  plain  declarations  that  the  present  controversy  is  but  a  strife 
between  one  part  of  the  community  and  another.  I  hear  it  boasted  as  the 
unfailing  security,  the  solid  ground,  never  to  be  shaken,  on  which  recent 
measures  rest,  that  the  poor  naturally  hate  the  rich.  I  know,  that  under 
the  shade  of  the  roofs  of  the  Capitol,  within  the  last  twenty-four  hours — 
among  men  sent  here  to  devise  means  for  the  public  safety  and  the  public 
good — it  has  been  vaunted  forth,  as  matter  of  boast  and  triumph,  that  one 
cause  existed,  powerful  enough  to  support  every  thing,  and  to  defend  every 
thing,  and  that  was — the  natural  hatred  of  the  poor  to  the  rich. 

Sir,  I  pronounce  the  author  of  such  sentiments  to  be  guilty  of  attempting 
a  detestable  fraud  on  the  community;  a  double  fraud;  a  fraud  which  is  to 
cheat  men  out  of  their  property,  and  out  of  the  earnings  of  their  labor,  by 
first  cheating  them  out  of  their  understandings. 

"  The  natural  hatred  of  the  poor  to  the  richF'1  Sir,  it  shall  not  be  till 
the  last  moment  of  my  existence — it  shall  be  only  when  I  am  drawn  to  the 
verge  of  oblivion — when  I  shall  cease  to  have  respect  or  affection  for  any 
thing  on  earth — that  I  will  believe  the  people  of  the  United  States  capable  of 
being  effectually  deluded,  cajoled,  and  driven  about  in  herds,  by  such  abom- 
inable frauds  as  this.  If  they  shall  sink  to  that  point — if  they  so  far  cease  to 
be  men — thinking  men,  intelligent  men — as  to  yield  to  such  pretences  and 
such  clamor,  they  will  be  slaves  already;  slaves  to  their  own  passions — slaves 
to  the  fraud  and  knavery  of  pretended  friends.  They  will  deserve  to  be 
blotted  out  of  all  the  records  of  freedom;  they  ought  not  to  dishonor  the 
cause  of  self-government,  by  attempting  any  longer  to  exercise  it;  they  ought 


22 

to  keep  their  unworthy  hands  entirely  off  from  the  cause  of  republican  liberty, 
if  they  are  capable  of  being  the  victims  of  artifices  so  shallow — of  tricks  so 
stale,  so  threadbare,  so  often  practised,  so  much  worn  out  on  serfs  and 
slaves. 

"  The  natural  hatred  of  the  poor  against  the  rich!  "  "  The  danger  of 
a  moneyed  aristocracy!  "  "  A  power  as  great  and  dangerous  as  that  resisted 
by  the  Revolution!  "     "  A  call  to  a  new  Declaration  of  Independence!  " 

Sir,  I  admonish  the  people  against  the  objects  of  outcries  like  these.  I 
admonish  every  industrious  laborer  in  the  country  to  be  on  his  guard  against 
such  delusion.  I  tell  him  the  attempt  is  to  play  off  his  passions  against  his 
interests,  and  to  prevail  on  him,  in  the  name  of  liberty,  to  destroy  all  the 
fruits  of  liberty;  in  the  name  of  patriotism,  to  injure  and  afflict  his  country; 
and,  in  the  name  of  his  own  independence,  to  destroy  that  very  independence, 
and  make  him  a  beggar  and  a  slave.  Has  he  a  dollar'?  He  is  advised  to  do 
that  which  will  destroy  half  its  value.  Has  he  hands  to  labor?  Let  him  ra- 
ther fold  them  and  sit  still,  than  be  pushed  on,  by  fraud  and  artifice,  to  sup- 
port measures  which  will  render  his  labor  useless  and  hopeless. 

Sir,  the  very  man,  of  all  others,  who  has  the  deepest  interest  in  a  sound 
currency,  and  who  suffers  most  by  mischievous  legislation  in  money  matters, 
is  the  man  who  earns  his  daily  bread  by  his  daily  toil.  A  depreciated  cur- 
rency— sudden  change  of  prices — paper  money,  falling  between  morning  and 
noon,  and  falling  still  lower  between  noon  and  night — these  things  constitute 
the  very  harvest-time  of  speculators,  and  of  the  whole  race  of  those  who  are 
at  once  idle  and  crafty;  and  of  that  other  race,  too,  the  Catalines  of  all 
times,  marked,  so  as  to  be  known  forever  by  one  stroke  of  the  historian's  pen — 
men  greedy  of  other  men's  property,  and  prodigal  of  their  oion.  Capitalists, 
too,  may  outlive  such  times.  They  may  either  prey  on  the  earnings  of  labor,  by 
their  cent  per  cent.,  or  they  may  hoard.  But  the  laboring  man — what  can 
he  hoard?  Preying  on  nobody,  he  becomes  the  prey  of  all.  His  property 
is  in  his  hands.  His  reliance,  his  fund,  his  productive  freehold,  his  all,  is  his 
labor.  Whether  he  work  on  his  own  small  capital,  or  on  another's,  his  living 
is  still  earned  by  his  industry;  and  when  the  money  of  the  country  becomes 
depreciated  and  debased,  whether  it  be  adulterated  coin  or  paper  without 
credit,  that  industry  is  robbed  of  its  reward.  He  then  labors  for  a  country 
whose  laws  cheat  him  out  of  his  bread.  I  would  say  to  every  owner  of  every 
quarter  section  of  land  in  the  West — I  would  say  to  every  man  in  the  East, 
who  follows  his  own  plough,  and  to  every  mechanic,  artisan,  and  laborer,  in 
every  city  in  the  country — I  would  say  to  every  man,  every  where,  who 
wishes,  by  honest  means,  to  gain  an  honest  living,  "  Beware  of  wolves  in 
"  sheep's  clothing.  Whoever  attempts,  under  whatever  popular  cry,  to  shake 
"  the  stability  of  the  public  currency,  bring  on  distress  in  money  matters, 
"  and  drive  the  country  into  paper  money,  stabs  your  interest  and  your  hap- 
"  piness  to  the  heart." 

The  herd  of  hungry  wolves,  who  live  on  other  men's  earnings,  will  rejoice  in 
such  a  state  of  things.  A  system  which  absorbs  into  their  pockets  the  fruits 
of  other  men's  industry,  is  the  very  system  for  them.  A  Government  that 
produces  or  countenances  uncertainty,  fluctuations,  violent  risings  and  fallings 
in  prices,  and,  finally,  paper  money,  is  a  Government  exactly  after  their  own 
heart.  Hence,  these  men  are  always  for  change.  They  will  never  let  well 
enough  alone.  A  condition  of  public  affairs,  in  which  property  is  safe, 
industry  certain  of  its  reward,  and  every  man  secure  in  his  own  hard-earned 
gains,  is  no  paradise   for  them.     Give  them  just  the  reverse  of  this  state  of 


23 

things:  bring  on  change,  and  change  after  change;  let  it  not  be  known  to-day 
what  will  be  the  value  of  property  to-morrow;  let  no  man  be  able  to  say 
whether  the  money  in  his  pockets  at  night  will  he  money  or  worthless  nigs  in 
the  morning;  and  depress  labor  till  double  work  shall  earn  but  half  a  living — 
give  them  this  state  of  things,  and  you  give  them  the  consummation  of  their 
earthly  bliss. 

Sir,  the  great  interest  of  this  great  country,  the  producing  cause  of  all  its 
prosperity,  is  labor!  labor!  labor!  We  are  a  laboring  community.  A  vast 
majority  of  us  all  live  by  industry  and  actual  occupation,  in  some  of  their 
forms. 

The  constitution  was  made  to  protect  this  industry,  to  give  it  both  en- 
couragement and  security;  but,  above  all,  security.  To  that  very  end,  with 
that  precise  object  in  view,  power  was  given  to  Congress  over  the  currency, 
and  over  the  money  system  of  the  country.  In  forty  years'  experience,  we 
have  found  nothing  at  all  adequate  to  the  beneficial  execution  of  this  trust 
but  a  well-conducted  national  bank.  That  has  been  tried,  returned  to,  tried 
again,  and  always  found  successful.  If  it  be  not  the  proper  thing  for  us,  let 
it  be  soberly  argued  against;  let  something  better  be  proposed;  let  the  country 
examine  the  matter  coolly,  and  decide  for  itself.  But  whoever  shall  attempt 
to  carry  a  question  of  this  kind  by  clamor,  and  violence,  and  prejudice;  who- 
ever would  rouse  the  people  by  appeals,  false  and  fraudulent  appeals,  to  their 
love  of  independence,  to  resist  the  establishment  of  a  useful  institution  because 
it  is  a  bank,  and  deals  in  money;  and  who  artfully  urges  these  appeals 
wherever  he  thinks  there  is  more  of  honest  feeling  than  of  enlightened  judg- 
ment, means  nothing  but  deception.  And  whoever  has  the  wickedness  to 
conceive,  and  the  hardihood  to  avow,  a  purpose  to  break  down  what  has  been 
found,  in  forty  years'  experience,  essential  to  the  protection  of  all  interests, 
by  arraying  one  class  against  another,  and  by  acting  on  such  a  principle  as 
that  the  poor  always  hate  the  rich,  shows  himself  the  reckless  enemy  of  all. 
An  enemy  to  his  whole  country,  to  all  classes,  and  to  every  man  in  it,  he 
deserves  to  be  marked  especially  as  the  poor  man's  curse.! 

Mr.  President,  I  feel  that  it  becomes  me  to  bring  to  the  present  crisis  all 
of  intellect,  all  of  diligence,  all  of  devotion  to  the  public  good,  that  I  possess. 
I  act,  sir,  in  opposition  to  nobody.  I  desire  rather  to  follow  the  administra- 
tion, in  a  proper  remedy  for  the  present  distress,  than  to  lead.  I  have  felt 
so  from  the  beginning,  and  I  have  felt  so  until  the  declaration  of  yesterday 
made  it  certain  that  there  is  no  further  measure  to  be  proposed.  The  ex- 
pectation is,  that  the  country  will  get  on  under  the  present  state  of  things. 
Being  myself  entirely  of  a  different  opinion,  and  looking  for  no  effectual  relief 
until  some  other  measure  is  adopted,  I  shall,  nevertheless,  be  most  happy  to 
be  disappointed.  But  if  I  shall  not  be  mistaken,  if  the  pressure  shall  con- 
tinue, and  if  the  indications  of  general  public  sentiment  shall  point  in  that 
direction,  I  shall  feel  it  my  duty,  let  the  consequences  be  what  they  may,  to 
propose  a  law  for  altering  and  continuing  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States. 


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